You've Got to be Kidding Me
by OctopusByStarlight
Summary: Jamie moves into college, only to find out she lives in a boy's hallway. Something odd is happening while she's in college. A mysterious person, odd happenings, and friends all mixed together in one pot... Please R&R! Mystery, Romance, and Comedy...
1. Moving In

**A/N: **Please read this story! I really need your opinion on it, whether you like it or not. I might not continue it, so if you like it please tell me. If you don't like it, please review anyway and tell me what you don't like about it... Please read the end note as well, thanks!

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"Okay... your dorm… building number… 5," Jamie's mom yelped triumphantly, "and we're just in time. 2:30 on the dot, its moving time!"

"Great," Jamie's dad replied as he rolled his eyes, "in that case, we're here!"

"Awesome, I can't believe I'm in college… Cornell!" Jamie Lin cried, "This is awesome!"

The sun was shining brightly, and so came the day to move the students into their dorms. Fallen leaves crunching underneath shoes were one of Jamie's favorite sounds - _Crunch, crunch, crunch. _Boxes and suitcases were shifted around, a cardboard scent in the air. This indeed was one of Jamie's much loved aromas though it might not be considered such a preferred one of others. Crafts were brought out of the car trunk, as well as many suitcases containing clothes.

"Suitcases… Airplane smells," Jamie concluded from taking another sniff, "it makes me sick…"

Just then, a female volunteer sauntered over to help Jamie and her family with their bags.

"Hello, I'm Cathy. May I be of any assistance?" The volunteer questioned.

"No thanks, Cathy, I think we're fine. I'm Jamie." Jamie responded with a smile.

As the Lin's heaved the luggage onto the grass, Cathy stood there in thought.

Suddenly, Cathy recalled what she had missed. "Have you gotten your room key yet?"

"Um… OH… no, not yet," Jamie mused, "I just realized that…"

"Well, go down there," Cathy pointed out, "and ask the lady behind the desk. She'll tell you your room number and give you the key."

"Okay, thanks!" Jamie waved thanks and headed off.

Meanwhile, Jamie's parents continued unloading and Cathy departed to aid others.

Back at Jamie, she was already talking to the lady behind the desk, learning her name was Mrs. Hamilton.

"Here is your Room Key," Mrs. Hamilton stated as she handed over a small key, "and your room number is… 5484. Thank you, Ms. Lin!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Hamilton, and um… how do you get there?"

"Just ask one of those volunteers, Ms. Lin, and they'll take you to your room."

"Thanks again, Mrs. Hamilton, and you can call me Jamie. Bye!"

"Very well Jamie, goodbye!"

_This is awesome. I wonder who my roommate is. I wonder why they didn't tell me. Maybe I accidentally got switched to a single room. But then again we asked for a double…_ Jamie pondered.

By the time Jamie got back to her mother, her father had already gone to park the rented white car. Jamie's mother was guarding the bags.

"Mom, it's 5484. I got the key. Someone needs to stay by the bags, so I'm gonna take the bags up to my room okay?"

"Okay, Jamie…"

Jamie strolled over to a volunteer and asked them where her room was.

"I'll take you," the guy said, "my name's Justin. My friend Derek's gonna take one or two of your bags up to your room, I'll take one or two, and you take one and follow me. Sound good?"

"Uh… sure, I'll go with that." Jamie replied, a bit bewildered at the crazy sentence Justin had made.

Derek and Justin each took two suitcases out of the 5 as Jamie's mother stood there, as confused as could be.

"Mom, they said they'd help, so I'm gonna take the last bag up to my room. You stay here; I'll come back down and help with the boxes okay?" And with that, Jamie hauled the last piece of luggage and followed Justin into the building.

As Justin lugged the burdensome suitcases up the stairs, he questioned, "What's in these bags!" half joking, and also being half curious.

"Let's just say… everything," Jamie smiled.

"Okay… well anyway – wait what's your name anyway?" Justin inquired.

"Jamie," she simply put.

"Well, Jamie, listen. Your room number is like this. The first number, five," Justin struggled to say as he kept working up the stairs, "is the building number, if you noticed. Then the four is the floor it's on. Saying you're on floor four. So for we've gone halfway." He stopped to take a breath. "And man, I really don't know what in the world you've got in here to make it so heavy…"

"Well, Justin, considering you're taking two bags… Where'd Derek go anyway? What is he, lightning?"

"Um, technically, yah. But literally I've got to admit he is faster than me, I don't know why with these heavy bags… and I thought he was weaker than me…"

Jamie urged Justin onwards as she said, "Maybe he got the lighter bags."

"There are LIGHT bags? You've got to be kidding me. Come on. Almost there."

When we finally reached the fourth floor, Justin started rolling the luggage and panted the rest of the way.

_Jeez, it feels like a maze… Left, right, right, and then take a left and a right… _Jamie felt dazed.

"Did I finish before? Well, Sorry, I guess I forgot. ANYWAY, the eight in your room number is the unit, which we are entering now," Justin explained as we passed through an open doorway. Next to the door on the wall, a huge cut out piece of blue construction paper was pasted, with 'Unit 8' written on it in green glitter. Jamie and Justin made a left, a right, and yet another right when Justin cried, "Here you are! Ah, finally. Hooray! Here are your bags." He placed them outside of the doorway next to two other pieces of luggage that also belonged to Jamie. _Derek must have passed us. I guess I didn't notice. _

"Well, I'm going back down again. Nice meeting ya' Jamie! Ooh, and your last number, four, is the room number in the hall. Take care!"

On the old wooden door was a sign that had '5484' engraved on it. Two letters were also taped to the door as a welcome note. Above each of those notes were pieces of blue felt with the room's residents' names' on them. There was her roommate's name, written big, bold and clear. But Jamie seemed to pass it, not observing who her roommate really was.

Twisting the key and opening the door, Jamie dragged the luggage in one by one. Once she was done, she plopped down onto the bed, looking around the room. Diagonally divided, each half of the room contained a large closet, a bouncy bed, a desk, and a bureau. Jamie observed a line of shoes on the other side of the room. _Why aren't there any girl shoes there? Not like I have any girl shoes either… Maybe I got paired up with a tomboy, just like me. _Jamie was quite baffled. _Well, mom's waiting, I should go downstairs. _

Jamie got up, stretched, and headed out the door. She noticed a tall boy moving boxes into a room. _That's weird, why is a boy moving in? Maybe he's just someone's brother. He just came to help, _Jamie reassured herself. As she scooted along the wall, careful not to tip over any of the suitcases, or anything, the boy turned to face her.

"Hey, you helping your brother move in?" the boy questioned. Sweat was dripping down his face, from the heat and the fact that he was moving in… or helping moving in, as Jamie thought.

"Um, no, **I'm **moving in… you're not helping your sister?" Jamie was rather shocked to hear him ask that.

"No, I'm moving in! What are you talking about? My room number is 5482! And here we are, 5482," the boy said, pointing to the number on the door. His eyes were open wide in amusement. _Jeez, this girl is crazy…_

"Yah, I can see that, but why are you moving into a girl's hallway?"

"…I think you got it switched around. You're moving in right; into **this **unit?"

"Um, yah! One of the volunteers down there told me how to get here, anyway!"

"Sorry, but I think you just got moved into a **boys' **unit… dorm maybe. Well I think at least the whole floor is occupied by boys."

"Okay, I seriously don't believe you right now." Jamie crossed her arms and lifted a brow.

"Look, I already met tons of people on this floor while moving in. This guy," directing my attention to room 5483, "is named Zach. And this guy," pointing to room 5481, "is named Aaron, Dave, and Pete. They have a triple room, but I think you can figure that out… My roommate is Josh or Joshua and I'm Kevin. And you are?"

"Jeez…"

"Uh… your name is Jeez?" Kevin laughed.

"Yah, my name is Jeez," Jamie replied sarcastically. "My name's Jamie."

"Cool, nice to meet you Jamie… So you're gonna be one of my neighbors?"

"… Oh, we'll see about that…" Jamie said with a puff. She stomped down the hall, all through the turns. "Agh!"

"Your roommate's name is Jake, if you're going to stay here…" Kevin hollered after Jamie.

_Jake… that sounds familiar. Like my best guy friend back in my old schools. It couldn't be though. But he never did tell me which college he was going to… never got the chance. _Jamie pondered over this while scrambling down all the flights of stairs, reaching the ground level, and scampering back to her mother.

"Mom, I got placed in a **boy's **hallway… or even a whole boy floor!"

"Yes, I know that dear." Jamie's mother answered plainly.

_Mom KNEW? _"Mom, aren't you like… usually WORRIED when I'm around boys?"

"Yes, but I have to make an exception. The girl double rooms were full, otherwise you would have to go triple with people you don't know and they are not similar to you and how you do things, like study, for example. If you had a roommate who kept the music really loud while she studied, then you wouldn't be able to study, and you would get bad grades… So daddy and I said that it would be best for you to learn with someone who is similar to you."

"Oh… um, okay." Jamie sighed as her father walked up to her.

"What happened? Did something come up? All the suitcases are already up in the room?" Jamie's father saw the look on his daughter's face.

"Everything's fine. I just realized I was in a boy's hallway and or floor though…" Jamie stared at the grass.

"Ooh…" Jamie's dad whispered to his wife, "How'd she take it?"

"She's fine; I already explained it to her…" The mother calmly replied.

"WELL," Jamie took a deep breath, "I guess we should take the rest of these boxes and stuff up to my room. Let's go!"

The grass was left empty as each of the Lin's hauled a large Rubbermaid box filled to the brim up to Jamie's room. When the door opened, the room was still empty. _Hmm, I guess the guy still hasn't come back yet… weird._

Jamie and her parents unpacked all of her belongings, hanging up clothes, folding some, that and all. A few appliances were plugged in, a nice fan turned on, and some pictures put up on the huge bulletin board provided in the room. Rubbermaid boxes were put under her bed after bed risers were stuck under her bed legs. A printer box was left on Jamie's bed, and her laptop was sitting comfortably on the enormous desk.

"Phew, now that that's over, I'm dead tired…" Jamie mumbled. Her plain blue jeans were stuck to her legs from the sweat, and there were patches of spots where her t-shirt was wet as well. She sat down in front of her new tower fan and froze into a statue.

"Well, Jamie we're going to leave now, it's already 5:00. We've got to get back to the hotel before it's dark and it's an hour away." Jamie's father stated. Jamie stood up before her father and mother and gave them each a great big hug.

"I love you," Jamie muffled, "bye, I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, of course." Jamie's mother beamed.

"Bye!" Jamie waved to her parents. _Bang. Jeez, this door is loud… _Jamie frowned.

"Well, time to get the printer and computer up and running…"

Jamie sat down in the wooden chair and started opening the printer box. Out came the printer, all different kinds of lines, an information book, and _Creeakkk, Slam!_

"Jamie," came a voice, "what are you doing here!"

Jamie spun her head around to see…

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**End Notes: **I might not continue this story! I have a weird cliffhanger, maybe you might not even consider it a cliffhanger. Maybe it's just hanging from a cliff that's one foot off the ground... Well, please review! I need all of your opinions! I might not continue this story! I need at least two people who want to read it... Please review, whether you like it or not! Thanks! As for me, I do want to continue it, but here's my problem. This story takes place in college right? But I don't know how to explain classes and stuff! I need your help on how to write stuff like that... I need suggestions! Please review and tell me what you think about this. Suggestions please! Thanks everyone! 


	2. New Friends

**A/N: **I owe it to 'Redneckbabe,' that is where I got the idea of putting a girl in a boys' hallway, floor, that and all. To Redneckbabe, I really really promise not to take any of your ideas! To other readers, her story, Freedom in Misery, is AWESOME, I love it a lot. I know all of you will love it too! Anyway, the only thing is a girl in a boys'… place. So, thank you Redneckbabe! The rest of the plot besides that is mine though… Heheh. (Besides the fact that Jamie is sent to a boys' hallway/floor, that.)

Well, read this next part of the story, I decided to continue because apparently I got two reviews that told me to keep going, SO yah. I hope you like it! (I will start by repeating the last few sentences, just to refresh your memory.)

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"Jamie," came a voice, "what are you doing here!" 

Jamie spun her head around to see her roommate standing in the doorway. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Gee, Jamie… you… y-y-you're…" Jake stuttered. He stared at the ground, taking deep breaths, and shook his head. "Wow." All of a sudden, his hand still on the doorknob, he slammed the door closed. Jamie could hear Jake collapse on the door and crouch, his back leaning on the door. Jake glared up at Kevin.

"I TOLD you it was a girl!" Kevin smirked.

"Not that," Jake folded his hands and drew one leg up to his chest.

"What else could it be? You didn't believe me, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jake waved his words away.

"Don't you remember? You said, 'What's up Kevin!' and you were all happy right? Then I said, 'Go meet your new roommate.' And you said, 'Did you meet him already?' But I said, 'SHE!' and obviously you didn't believe me. Now you believe me?"

"J-Jamie's not just any _she_. I knew her. Well, know her." Jake retorted, gazing at the floor. He slammed the back of his head against the door. Flashbacks of when he had been with her flooded his head. He could hear her laughter, her sarcastic tones, one time when she cried, and other times when she had told him and her other friends to touch her head as the sun was burning brightly and heating her black hair. _I have spent three awesome years with her, _Jake smiled, _and it looks like I'm going to have another 4 years with her here in college. Whoo! _

"Dude," Kevin snapped, clapping in front of Jake's face, "what are you doing!"

Jake's smile disappeared, as he stared up at Kevin with his eye's slit. "You are _so _annoying, you know that?"

Meanwhile, inside room 5484, Jamie was lying on her bed. _I thought it would be another Jake. But it's this Jake. Weird. Very weird. I wonder if I'll actually enjoy having him as a roommate. But then again he _is _one of my best friends. Well, I guess I'll just have to enjoy living with him… I wonder what'll happen next year. Will I still have him as a roommate? _Jamie always tended to think about the future.

_-Flashback-_

_Jamie and Jake were sitting on a bench on the last day of high school, the sun glistening on their black hair._

_"Well, I had fun," Jamie smiled a little, "with you being my friend."_

_"Yah, guess I'll see you… later." Jake gave Jamie a high five. _

_"Keep in touch!" _

_"Haha, yah, unless we're roommates," Jake joked. _

_"That's basically impossible," Jamie laughed._

_".0000001 chance dude! Jamie, it's still possible," Jake grinned._

_-Flashback Ends-_

Jamie thought aloud, "Now THAT… is freaky."

Just then, the door swished open. Jamie felt a little breeze.

"Hi," Jamie greeted weakly.

"Hi…" Jake couldn't find any words.

"They're outside right behind the door aren't they?" Jamie lifted her head and nodded toward the door, which was behind her to the right.

"What? Um… no, of course not! W-why would they be there? What m-made you think that?" Jake lied as he scrambled over to his bed, also making sure Jamie wasn't going to look out the door.

Outside in the hallway, all 6 of Unit 8's residents besides Jamie and Jake were lined up against the wall, listening intently. Kevin, who was closest to the door, put his finger on his mouth, motioning to the others to stay quiet. But unfortunately, there was a big mouth in the group.

"JEEZ, what is she, PHYSIC?" Everyone let out a big sigh except for Jamie, who rolled her eyes, and Zach shrugged innocently.

Kevin yelled, "ZACH!" and began chasing him around the hallway.

Jake, who was usually the one breaking up fights, ran out the door and grabbed Kevin by the shoulders. "Jeez…"

Jamie marched outside and laughed sarcastically. "…And Jake saves the day again…"

Jake smiled sheepishly, letting go of Kevin, who finally caught Zach and poked him repeatedly.

"What a funny group," Jamie lifted her brow, amused.

"So… what do you think of Jake being your new roommate?" Aaron finally spoke.

"Yah, what do you think?" Joshua, Pete, and Dave chimed in.

"Dude, he's one of my best friends," Jamie chuckled, "it's completely and utterly fine… isn't it?" Jamie elbowed Jake.

"Oh, yah, oh, of course!" Jake shrugged.

"SO, anyway, I see Jake has already met all of you and got acquainted with you all, so what are your names? I only met Kevin." Jamie wondered.

"I'm Zach!" he blurted out.

"So apparently you're the big mouth?"

Zach nodded, "Mayyyyybe. Zach Rowdy."

The rest of the group raised their hands as Jamie learned their names.

"Aaron. Aaron Freeman."

"Dave Young."

"Pete, Petey, Peter, whatever… Carlson."

"Josh… or Joshua is good. Joshua Cheng."

"Kevin Long."

"Right…. Okay. Well, Jamie Lin. Anyway, I'm hungry. Up for dinner anyone?"

"Sure, that would work," the boys replied.

"Okay then, Aaron Freeman, Dave Young, Pete Carlson, Joshua Cheng, Kevin Long, and of course Jake Wong! Off to dinner we go… anyone got a map?" Jamie laughed.

The buffet styled diner right next to their buildings was where they ate. All eight of the newly made friends piled up their plates and walked together to a peach colored rectangular table. One side of the table had cushioned seats, the other side having separate wooden chairs.

"Well, what are you waiting for guys? Sit!" Jamie exclaimed, motioning toward the table. The guys all cowered behind her, refusing.

"Um… Ladies first," Kevin promptly answered.

"You weird people…" Jamie teased. She sat down at the corner of the table, seating herself on the cushioned seats. Jake slid in next to her, Joshua and Pete following. Kevin sat himself in front of Jamie, and to his right came Dave, Aaron, and finally Zach.

Everyone paused for a moment, speechless, then discovered they were all ravenous, and started stuffing their food into their mouths. After finishing a plate, Jamie silently reached into her backpack, which she always brought along, and pulled out her digital camera. Even though the camera was still in her backpack, Jamie found the power button and secretly turned it on. A muffled sound rung, but the boys didn't notice it, as they were still too busy eating.

Before they knew it, a picture was taken of the seven boys all taking in huge bites of food, and Jamie was pleased.

"What was that flash?" Zach looked up from his plate of beef, noodles; all that could ever be found in the diner.

"Jamie?" Jake slowly bent his head toward Jamie suspiciously.

"What?" Jamie, who had rapidly stuffed her camera back into her bag, looked up and shrugged innocently.

"Camera please." Jake demanded with a smile.

"You," Jamie elbowed Jake and started poking his head, "ugh… I'll show you guys the picture later." Jamie kicked Jake from under the table, laughing. Jake tried unsuccessfully to kick back; he accidentally kicked Kevin's long legs instead.

"Hey man, what was that for?" Kevin seemed a bit angry. Jamie took a bite out of her food and kicked at Kevin's legs. Kevin attempted to kick back, failed and accidentally kicked Jake, who mistakenly kicked Dave who kicked Joshua who swung his legs and whacked Aaron who got Pete who got the best of Zach. Everyone started kicking each other and occasionally peering under the table, trying to kick someone in particular. The group had a blast, laughing until their stomachs hurt. In the end, it was Jamie who broke up the mini kicking party.

"Okay, we've been here kicking at each other for over an hour. Let's go," Jamie had the urge to kick Jake again, as he was the last one to bump her, but she knew if she did, it would all start again. She grinned broadly. "Let's get back to our dorm."

They all walked back to the dorm together, laughing their heads off, frequently giving each other a nudge, and Zach blabbering on and on about the night, making everyone beam brighter than the full moon above them.

When they reached the hallway, Jamie stopped. Pulling out her camera from her backpack, the boys huddled around her at the sight of her digital camera.

"Lemme see!" Zach whined, who was in the back, too short to see over the shoulders of his friends. Everyone else was laughing as loudly as a blaring trumpet, seeing themselves gorging the food down.

"Okay, disperse!" Jamie commanded through her non-stop laughter, "Zach, here." Jamie handed the camera over to Zach who glanced at it and immediately passed it back to fall over and roll on the floor guffawing.

"Okay boy, up! Up doggie! Roll over, go to bed!" Joshua clapped his hands and pointed. "Come on, bed doggie, bed!"

"Ha-ha, nice one Josh," Kevin said, giving him a high five.

"Rawr," Zach said weakly, his eyes were bored. He crawled into his room and slammed the door closed.

"So, who gets to shower first?" Pete ventured. "There are two toilets, and a shower. Who showers first?"

"I call bathroom!" Jamie cried, raising her hand.

"But who gets to shower first?" Pete waited patiently for his answer. Silence followed.

"Ladies first." Kevin stated again.

"WHY ME!" Jamie threw her hands up in despair. She rolled her eyes. "Fine! Okay I'll set two people. I'm Last, Zach's first."

"Why Zach?" Aaron tilted his head in confusion.

"Because… he's the funniest?" Jamie smiled and shrugged, "Zach, get out here."

"What?" Zach answered flatly, his eyes half closed.

"Get your clothes and shower. We decided you go first."

"AWESOME!" Zach instantly brightened up, eyes open wide. He rushed inside his room and sped back out with a ball of clothes in his arm. Racing straight across the dim hallway horizontally, he stopped abruptly an inch before the wall and acted as if he had hit the wall. We all chuckled.

Zach turned around and winked at us, giving us a thumbs-up. "I love getting the laughs out of people." He ingenuously walked over to the bathroom door and the door crashed closed. Everything was silent before running water was heard.

"He cracks me up," Jamie confessed, releasing all the laughter that had heaped up inside her.

"Ha-ha. Well, after Zach, Pete can go… then Aaron… and Dave, Jake, and me. And if Jamie wants to go last, then she'll go last." Kevin took charge.

"Nah, Kevin, you go before me. I'll go second to last." Jake backed away.

"Okay, it's settled then." Jamie supposed. "DISPERSE!"

Everyone retired back into their rooms.

"Hey Jake," Jamie called when she was back in their room.

"Yah?"

"What do you think of me… you know, _being_here?"

"Um… well, it's great, really!"

Jamie simply stared up at the ceiling, as since she was reclined on her bed. She didn't give any answer.

Jake felt uneasy about the silence. "Well, I would think it's better to have your best friend be your roommate then, like, well, someone you don't know. Right?"

"Sure I guess…"

"Is something bothering you Jamie? What do _you_ think of living in a boys' hallway?"

"Eh, it's fine I guess. It's just that…" she paused.

"What is it?"

Jamie shook her head and turned to face the wall, her back to Jake.

"What is it?" Jake repeated, carefully venturing into Jamie's thoughts.

"Never mind." Jamie forced herself to smile as she got up and dropped down onto her desk chair. Turning on her laptop she realized she hadn't connected the internet or the printer yet.

"Tell me Jamie." Jake imitated a child's cry and displayed big puppy eyes for Jamie to see.

Jamie giggled and shook her head no as she opened up the instruction booklet and began setting up the printer. "Come help me," Jamie changed the subject.

"Fine." Jake got up and shoved Jamie a little. Before they knew it they had left their task half finished and had a small, friendly fight. Just like the times they had in high school.

_Knock knock. _"Hey, you two in there?"

Jamie recognized Kevin's voice and gave Jake a final push before opening the door to greet Kevin.

"Hey!" Jamie found him standing with a towel over his shoulder, frazzled hair and in pajamas.

"Jake's turn," Kevin said in a singsong voice.

"Gotcha," Jake started pulling out clothes from his closet and dresser.

"Well, my job's done," Kevin said tiredly, yawning, "see ya' tomorrow Jamie, Jake. G'Night!"

"Night!"

With that, Jake and Jamie showered and retired to bed. Jake was a heavy sleeper. Jamie found that out long ago at a sleepover, but renewed her memory today as she sneezed and whispered and almost shouted in Jake's ear, but he never budged. Jamie ended up lying in her bed, struggling unsuccessfully to fall asleep. As one o' clock rounded near, Jamie heard a knock on the door. _I must just be hearing things. _But the knock sounded again, this time louder. Jamie stood and tottered over to the door. She opened the door, and saw someone standing there. Her vision was blurry, but it soon cleared up.

"Hey Jamie."

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Shriek. A cliffhanger. Who can it be? Nobody knows. Not even I know, so don't ask. Haha. Thanks to all the reviewers!  
And actually Blue Streak, I guess she is taking things really well. I try to think up problems, but my brain is kind of dead. Ha.  
Please review! Thanks, I appreciate it, and as I said, my brain is a bit dead, or in other words I have writer's block. So if you have any ideas please tell me! I need something... my brain is not working... haha. 

Anyway, school started so it'll take me a bit longer to update. I would've updated yesterday but I wasn't very happy with what I wrote. I'm not sure this is the best thing I've written either, this chapter... Please review, tell me what you think. Need constructive critisism. Hehe Thanks to all reviewers! This is the first time I actually got three reviews grand. Wow.

Thanks Everyone!


	3. Midnight Chat

**A/N: **I'm SO SORRY for making you all wait so long! ... if you were waiting... REALLY SORRY. School started and guess what. I have a TON of homework... and I have writer's block, that too. This chapter is kinda short, sorry about that... but I felt bad about not updating in SUCH a long time! Really sorry for that! This is kind of a weird chapter... hope you like it!

* * *

"Dude, what are you doing up so late? Or in that case, early…" Jamie yawned.

"Um… well. I couldn't really sleep. Could you sleep?" he asked, blinking his eyes.

"Not really…" Jamie said sleepily, her vision still too blurry to see who it was. But soon it cleared up. "HEY! IT'S YOU! It really is YOU! Wow! I can't believe you're here!" Jamie suddenly shouted, but quickly realized it and dropped down to a whisper, hoping she didn't wake anyone up. Jake was still sleeping, for sure.

"Hey! Heavy sleepers here huh?" he smiled in the dark and hugged Jamie like long lost friends.

"OW," Jamie cried as she pinched herself.

"What is it?"

"Mmm… just pinching myself to make sure this isn't a dream."

"Well?"

"It's definitely not a dream." Jamie giggled.

"Awesome."

"So what's been going on?" Jamie's eyes glittered in the dark, as she closed the door to her room behind her and sat down leaning against a wall in the hall.

"Mm… Not much. Summer went by pretty slow, considering all the stuff I have to write, all of that. We never really took a vacation anywhere over the summer." He sat down next to her.

"Oh… well…" Jamie leaned against him and closed her eyes. They talked a bit more, her head on his shoulder. Suddenly Jamie felt as if for a minute everything was blank.

"Jamie… Jamie… Jamie!" Somebody had shaken her awake.

Jamie blinked and shut her eyes tight immediately. _What was with the sun? I thought it was night… Where is that guy? _"Mmmm… what happened?"

"Jamie, what are you doing?"

"Jake?" Jamie tilted her head and squinted up at his face.

"Jamie, what are you doing out here?"

She was about to push herself up on her hands, but quickly withdrew them, seeing she was pushing the floor, not her bed.

"Where am I?" she cried, her eyes open wide.

"…Apparently you're in the hallway." Jake kneeled down next to her.

"Why?"

"Why, I don't know. That's what I was going to ask you, Jamie… I just woke up. It's 9 in the morning and I didn't see you in bed. I was going to go to the bathroom or something to look for you but… I guess I didn't need to look any further than the hall…" Jake bit his lip, raising his eyebrow.

"That guy… where's that guy?"

"Maybe you were dreaming, Jamie."

"I _wasn't _dreaming! I pinched myself! There was this guy… I saw him. When I pinched myself it hurt! I wasn't dreaming, Jake!"

Jake was speechless. "Well… um… maybe… let's just forget about this and go to breakfast with the guys, okay?"

"Fine, but I _wasn't_ dreaming!"

"Hey, what's up?" Zach came out of his room, stretching.

"Jamie was dreaming. She saw this guy and ended up out -"

"I WASN'T DREAMING JAKE!"

"How can you be sure?"

"Well, one, I woke up out here, and two, I PINCHED myself!" Jamie cried of frustration.

"You could have been sleepwalking." Zach suggested.

"How do you explain my pinching myself and hurting!" Jamie shouted, standing up.

"What happened out here?" Aaron peeked out his door, squinting in the sun. Aaron then walked out in baggy pajamas, and tagging along behind him were Pete and Dave.

"What's all the fuss about?" Josh staggered into the hallway and plopped down against the wall next to his door, drifting off into a light sleep. Kevin, who was wide awake, casually walked out and leaned on the closed door, without a word.

"UGH!" Jamie threw her hands up in the air, giving up. All 7 boys watched Jamie stomp into room 5484 and slam the door shut, a piercing sound to each of their ears. A muffled scream rung and hung in the air while the guys stood frozen, blinking innocently. A blanket of silence fell over them.

Suddenly out of the blue, Jamie burst the door open, her teeth clenched together, breathing heavily. After a few seconds she slammed it again, and calmly came back out with clothes in her hand, a smile on her face. Walking past the stone statues, she entered the bathroom and into a stall.

Silence drifted in the air.

"She's freaky," Aaron insisted, "going into the room as mad as … um… steam, and walking out with a grin on her face?"

"Well… at least she's okay now?" Zach suggested.

"NAW! Would she be?" Dave cried, "She could be faking it."

Jake finally piped up. "I guess we should just wait for her then."

Everyone hunched their backs and almost crawled back into their rooms, except for Josh, who was still napping away.

Five minutes later Jake went to check on Jamie.

"What in the world is taking you so long?" Jake hollered, poking his head into the bathroom.

From behind the stall came a voice saying, "I'm CHANGING!"

"Okay, okay… why does it take so long to change? What, you can't decide what to WEAR?" Jake mocked.

"Yeah, SURE," Jamie retorted, half laughing, "What should I wear, huh? You know me…"

"Right… t-shirts and jeans. Forever and ever." Jake quoted, chuckling.

"Actually, choose for me!" Jamie exclaimed, sounding childlike and playful. Jake raised an eyebrow in confusion. "T-shirt and jeans or… t-shirt and jeans? Oh, maybe I'll wear t-shirts and jeans!" Jamie teased.

"I'll go with t-shirt and jeans," Jake howled.

In the 15 minutes following all the guys and Jamie had gotten ready and headed out for breakfast. On the way to the dining building, Jamie had spotted an airplane and cried, "Airplane!" Everyone had looked up to the sky and from behind someone had bumped Jamie.

Looking behind her, she saw nothing but a piece of paper on the concrete.

"Well, what's this?" Jamie said in a playful English accent.

Opening the note, she found that it read _I'm the one that talked to you at around midnight. _Reading it aloud, her friends turned to look at her quizzically. Repeating it, she realized that she could recognize the handwriting, yet couldn't remember exactly whose handwriting it was.

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**End Notes: **Hope you liked it! MU HU HA HA HA! It's kind of a cliffhanger! At least I think it is... I've gotten a bit hyper... I think I might have finished it up a bit too quick... I need constructive critisism please! Is it good or bad? Please review! Thanks a bunch! 


	4. Another Note

**A/N: SO SORRY!!! INCREDIBLY SORRY! My school has been loading us with homework and PROJECTS... I've barely had time to get on the computer... Sorry I didn't update in a long time, but well... I updated now. It may be short but I thought I'd end it before I got you guys to wait any longer. If any of you were waiting... hopefully you didn't give up on me. :( ... anyway, Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and have a great break and all. **

* * *

Her head was throbbing. Holding onto her head in pain and lying in her bed, she just couldn't remember who it was that wrote the note. She tried to remember all the times her friends had asked her for help on homework so long ago, or when she leaned over to look at her friend's comments on some paper. But no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't remember. It seemed like years ago!

A day passed, filled with registration activities. Papers flew and pens were racing against one another. The following days were uneventful as far as the mysterious midnight chat. However, another note was anonymously passed to Jamie two days before classes began.

Returning from dinner, Jamie and her pals parted to enter their own rooms. As Jake pulled out his keys for their room, Jamie peered over his shoulder and spied a ripped lined piece of paper taped to the wooden door.

"What's that?" Jamie furrowed her eyebrows as she reached over her friend's shoulder to grab the paper.

Turning the knob, Jake cracked the door open. Once he noticed Jamie wasn't following him, he craned his head and tried to read the paper Jamie was holding. "What's that, James-o?"

No answer.

Jamie was a pond in winter, her eyes wide.

"Hmmm… '_Meet me at the front entrance to your building tomorrow at 7 P.M.'_" Jake was frozen as well.

When Zach came out with his pajamas and a towel in hand, he stopped in the middle of the hallway. He cocked his head. Quietly gliding toward the statues, he muttered, "Jamie…" but whispered, "Whoa…" at the sight of the note. _Meet me at the front entrance to your building tomorrow at 7 P.M. _"Jamie… do you want me to tell the others?" Zach questioned, shaking Jamie from stone to flesh.

Jamie shook her head as slowly as a snail sprints. "No," she finally mumbled, "don't tell them Zach."

Jamie didn't speak a word the rest of the darkening day. When Kevin came to alert Jamie that it was her turn to shower, she merely pushed past him into the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Kevin had a puzzled look on his face.

"Nothing… absolutely nothing at all." Jake replied. He was sprawled on his bed staring down at the floor, making out random shapes.

"Hey, you have to tell me, dude," Kevin demanded, his face suddenly stern. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing, okay?" Jake looked up from the floor. He saw a carpet version of Kevin. His eyes were apparently used to the carpet.

Kevin glared at him brutally but backed away from the door, marching back into his own room. Jake heard the door slam as he gazed at the empty doorway.

After a few minutes, Jamie came pouncing through the doorway, happy as a bunny.

"I'm done! Come on," Jamie urged.

_Oh boy. She must be INCREDIBLY disturbed to hide it like that, _Jake thought glumly. Jake took his time pushing himself up from his bed and walking over to his drawer. As he gloomily pulled out his clothes, Jamie was bouncing up and down by the door, waiting. Suddenly she stood as still as a statue, squinted and scratched her chin, and dashed over to her own drawer. "TOOTHBRUSH!" she screamed, seemingly unaware of sleeping people in the rest of the world.

_Highly, highly, highly disturbed, _Jake pondered while sluggishly dragging himself over to the door. Jamie raced to the door, squeezed past him and flew into the bathroom, halting at the sink. 30 seconds later, Jake heaved himself onto the tile floor and over to the shower. While Jake showered, Jamie brushed her teeth and nobody spoke a word. As soon as Jamie was finished and she had her mouth squeaky clean, she rapidly became hyper once more.

Up until they went to bed, they continued like that, one hyper and the other the complete opposite. But as Jamie neared her bed and barely touched her sheets, she broke out sobbing and crashed onto her bed. Jake, who was sitting quietly, shot up from his chair and took long strides over to Jamie.

Sitting down beside her on her bouncy bed, he knew that when she was in this state, it was useless to ask if she was okay. Of course, she would say yes, although she wasn't.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with the exceptions of Jamie's sniffs and the breeze outside the window, making a few leaves rustle.

Jake, who sat farther back than Jamie, began to raise his arm, but lowered it. As he thought over it, he decided to be bold and do what he desired to do. All he intentioned for was to comfort her, right? So he raised his arm again and put it around Jamie.

They've done that before, except in different circumstances. Jamie, Jake, and the rest of their old friends always put their arms around each other as happy and jumpy friends always do. But this was different.

To Jake's relief, Jamie didn't pull back or anything, but Jake felt awkward having his arm around her. He stared at the floor and considered pulling his arm back, but decided not to, thinking that would be a sign of cowardice.

Jamie kept crying. Before he knew it, Jake felt Jamie lay her head on his shoulder. A few seconds slipped away before Jake decided. He wrapped his free arm around Jamie, and they remained like that for what was a million hours of bliss to Jake.

It felt like forever, but indeed it was over all too soon. Jamie undid herself from Jake, stood up, and announced, "We should go to sleep."

With that, Jake stood up reluctantly, but didn't allow Jamie to see it. He took a step towards his bed and forced himself to crash headfirst into his pillow. Jamie unsuccessfully muffled a snicker, turned off the light, and tucked herself into her bed.

"'Night," Jamie muttered.

"Goodnight, Jamie," Jake replied, closing his eyes.

As Jamie tossed and turned in her cot, Jake could not help wondering what had made Jamie cry. Had she finally realized who _it _was? Did something happen in the day that Jake didn't notice? Was it himself? Why had she cried? Why?

The next day, Jake and Jamie both woke up at the same time. They caught each other's glances and realized what had woken them up and alarmed them so. _Who was knocking on the door?_


	5. What happened to Jamie?

_Knock, knock, bang._

Jamie and Jake, being best friends, always seemed to know what the other was thinking about.

_Could it be? _Jake squinted at Jamie.

Don't ask me… how would I know anyway?

It's impossible…

_KNOCK, BANG, BANG._

_Nobody knows!!! _Jamie widened her eyes playfully, but then quickly changed her expression and shook her head in disbelief as well as raising her hands in question. _Get the door already!_

Jake pushed himself off of his bed slower than a snail and tiptoed over to the door.

_BANG, BANG, BANG._

Glancing at Jamie for help but receiving only a blank expression, Jake peered through the eyehole and sighed heavily. His eyes were dull as he turned the knob.

Jamie cocked her head, wondering what had caused his face to change so suddenly.

The door swung wide open.

"HEY, BUD!" Kevin screamed in Jake's face. Jake took a step back, not wanting to get Kevin's spit all over his face. "We've been waiting for you! Why didn't you get up, man?" Kevin asked, lightly punching Jake's shoulder.

Jake turned his head to look at the clock. _9:30 A.M.! _

"Whoa," Jake seemed to be transfixed. He stood as if he were a in a drama play, acting as the daring character who just saw a green snot monster behind him.

Neither of the two boys realized that Jamie had leaned back in her bed and continuously hit her head on the wall. How in the world could I have thought it was him? Gee, what in the world is wrong with my head? It was just Kevin, how could I be so dumb?

Jamie pondered quietly in her bed. Yet her thoughts were interrupted by another burst from Kevin the Loud.

"BREAKFAST TIME, dudes! Come on, let's go already!" Kevin cried out, resting his folded hands on his head.

"Yah, yah, just as soon as we get ready," replied Jake, who had snapped out of his trance.

Jamie rubbed her eyes. _Get a grip already…_She stood up and went over to the mirror next to her closet. She had a few hairs sticking up. _Oy, whatever…_

Jamie grabbed her toothbrush and put her anger towards herself onto the toothbrush. In other words, she gave the toothbrush the death penalty. Jake followed foot without making his toothbrush suffer.

The two best friends walked to the bathroom and did the usual morning routine. They threw some water over their heads, smacked down their hair, and joined the group at the end of the hallway.

The following two days were proved uneventful. Jamie felt that something was going to happen, but nothing did. Or possibly something did happen, just that Jamie wasn't fully aware of it.

The morning of August 24th was the first day of college. _Here we go, _Jamie thought.

The residents of Unit 8 survived the day and gathered all together for dinner that night.

"WHOO, one of my professors is like… AWESOME!" Zach cried, jumping in his seat.

"Who?" another asked.

"Dude, you're going to have to find out yourself," Zach smiled mischievously. "I think you have his class tomorrow… maybe. If you don't, well too bad."

The individual who had asked the question winced.

"Anyone have any strict teachers? Bleh, professor, whatever," Aaron's eyes traveled around the whole table.

"This one teacher of mine, he's really weird," Zach piped up again. "OOH, you know what? I caught some other professor guy picking his nose! ISN'T THAT AWESOME?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, and Jamie couldn't help letting out a giggle. She had bit her lip but he had yelled it across the whole cafeteria; all eyes were on Zach by now. Those who hadn't heard the outburst were told of it by another student. Snickers hung in the air and raised eyebrows crawled over the hoard of students.

Zach didn't notice them. He just continued blabbing on.

"AND, AND, AND, there was this really hyper dude-" Zach cut himself off, noticing his friends questioning eyes glued to his face. "NO I'm not the hyper dude! There was this OTHER hyper dude!"

The group of friends stole unbelieving glances at one another, shrugged ever-so-slightly, and returned to their plates.

Zach went on and on, leaving his food untouched and entertaining his friends, and the rest of the people in the room for that matter.

A male student on his way back to get more food spotted the table and stopped in his tracks. The only person who noticed him was Kevin, who was surprised to see him there. He gave the other student an intimidating glare.

The boy frowned to see the look, sighed, and walked away. Kevin immediately turned back to Zach, faking a great interest in Zach's blab.

Later that night, after showers and the rest of the common evening routine, Jamie plopped into her chair and proceeded to open her backpack. _Zip! _

"You have a lotta homework, James?" Jake questioned from the other side of the room.

"My homework load is all right," Jamie sighed, "at least for today."

Jamie yawned.

Jake responded to this subtle sign of fatigue. "You okay? It's pretty early to be tired… it's only 9:39."

"Maybe I'm just not used to it… I'm all right," Jamie assured him.

By 10:48 P.M., Jamie began noticing that she couldn't keep her eyes open. Perhaps she should sleep. After all, she had most of her homework from today done. Only one or two assignments left that she could do the next day.

Jamie's chair mumbled as it was pushed back along the carpet laden floor. Jake heard the chairs complaints and spun his head around, for neither of them had uttered a single word or even made a single squeak. For over an hour, the only sounds heard in the room was the tapping of pencils stamping on the paper.

Jake quietly observed Jamie slide under her covers and twist her body around, searching for a comfortable position. Jamie yawned, and complete silence wolfed the two down.

Scratching his head and breaking the silence, Jake bent back over his homework. He tried to work, but could not concentrate. What had made Jamie sleep so early? Was she sick with fever?

As Jake got up from his seat, he noticed Jamie had not even turned off her lamp. Jake wandered over to her desk, turned the light off, and went back to his own desk. He finally decided to sleep as well. After all, he couldn't concentrate.

He turned off all lights in the room, and crawled into his bed. _She probably just has a fever,_ Jake told himself.

A mystery was unrolling, and the clues would come in the most peculiar way. However, this certainly isn't in the knowledge of Jamie or Jake. Or, for that matter, any human on Earth. But the clues would come, whether they knew they were clues or not.

* * *

**A/N: **cough Well, it's actually not THAT much of a cliffhanger... maybe it is.. but I don't think it's so huge... Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE!!! I'm seriously not going to put up another chapter until I see at least 3 reviews... That's not so many, but I need SOME! Please and thank you! Please don't give up on me! I didn't take THAT long to update this time, so PLEASE don't give up on me!

When you review, please tell me anything you think is weird... I know the Zach thing was kinda sudden and odd... I just thought I would put in something funny-ish. If you think it's odd too, tell me! Thanks everyone!

I came up with an idea, and there's a little tiny hint here in this chapter. The thing that I came up with will probably last a few chapters, and that will connect to my original idea. (My new idea was just adding on to the original one) Please review, I really want to get started on this evil plan of mine! Thanks!

Also, I think I might actually start a new story.. I have an idea, and I don't want to lose it... I'll still continue this one, but I also want to get another story on fanfiction as well.


	6. The Wait

Jamie had the most random of dreams that night. It was a short one, therefore making her sleep seem like only a few seconds time.

In her dream, it was pitch black; completely void.

But she could hear things. Music.

Particularly songs she recognized from high school. Just the melody.

Then the dream ended.

_Do do do do do dum dee doo dad um, do do do do do dum deed a doo dum, doo da dum, doo da–Click._

Music… that music from my dream…

Jamie's world revolved around her dream that morning. It was 8:00, and she would have to get to class around 8:45 A.M. Usually Jamie's first thought in the morning was 'My alarm clock has got to win the first prize for Most Annoying Alarm Clock in the World, singing It's a Small World to me first thing in the morning. Ugh.'

But today, ah, today… Why did she remember her dream so clearly? What was with that music? Jamie sat and thought for a precious five minutes, and finally gave up. Her grand finale was a high-pitched scream of frustration that rattled the glass windows.

As a reply, Jake mumbled a Good Morning. Apparently he thought this a practical answer. His eyelids remained closed as he tossed in his bed and caught another few minutes of sleep. Jake's class started at 9:15 A.M.

In room 8482, down the hall, there was yet a soul awake. He heard the scream, and wondered what it was. Normally, this someone would have gone to see what had caused it, but was too tired to get up from his bed. He had not gotten a wink of sleep, for he had stayed awake chatting the night away to his roommate.

Not just any random talk, it was important. It was secretive. But yet, he had just given his roommate a hint of his plan. He had not yet exposed it fully. He wasn't ready to do that just yet. This individual trusted his fellow roommate, for they were best friends since 3rd grade. Yet, he couldn't tell him yet. Not yet.

When should I begin? Tomorrow, the tired boy decided, tomorrow.

At 4:21 P.M., Jamie sat in her room waiting for Jake. Her classes had ended for the day, and she wanted to talk to someone about her dream. Obviously, Jake was the person she trusted most, so she waited for him.

When did he say his classes ended? Jamie pondered as she stared at the closed door. I thought his classes ended before I did… or maybe that was yesterday. Maybe it's like… 4:30?

Jamie's wait became incredibly tedious, so she got up, walked over to her desk, and turned on her laptop. She did some English homework, and checked her email.

4:58 P.M. Why isn't he here yet?

As she picked up her cell phone, she discovered she had a new message. Jamie listened to it, hoping it was Jake.

It wasn't.

The call was from her parents; actually, more specifically, her mother.

She decided to call her back; her mother sounded quite worried since she hadn't called in a while.

"Hello?"

"JAMIE!" Jamie's mother cried.

"Hi, mom."

"How's school? Don't procrastinate!" her mother warned.

"I'm fine, mom."

"Is anything weird happening?"

"Um… no," Jamie lied.

"Any problem with the… the… those… 'neighbors' of yours?"

"No, mom,"

"Okay, well if anything happens, be SURE to tell me okay?"

"Yah, yah, yah," Jamie said reluctantly. _Duh_, she still wouldn't give away most inner thoughts about them.

"Okay then… bye," her mother said sadly.

"Bye."

"WAIT! How was your first day of school?" Jamie's mother tried desperately to continue the conversation with her dear child.

"It was fine, mom."

"Well, all right. Bye! Call me again soon!"

"Okay. Bye mom!" Jamie closed her cell phone with a smile. To tell the truth, she was glad to hear her mother's voice. So jubilant, she was…

It took Jamie a while to realize her first worries.

Jake.

He still wasn't back yet.

What in the world could have happened?

_Tch, tch, tch._

Footsteps.

_Tch, tch, tch._

Stepping. Shoes rubbing against the carpet.

_Tch, tch, tch, tch._

Getting closer.

_Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch._

Growing in volume. Quickening.

_Tch, tch._

Stopped. Outside. In the hallway.

At the door of room 5484.

"Jake?" Jamie was almost too scared to go and open the door. She was on the edge of her seat.

There was no sound of any key turning. Jamie thought she heard some shuffling of feet behind the door.

"Jake, come in, what are you doing?" Jamie tried to talk to him, but her voice was inaudible.

Clothes ruffled behind the door. Paper crinkled, deepening the mystery. A groan was heard, as if an old and feeble woman was straightening up from crouching.

Just as Jamie was about to march over to that door and swing it open, a small piece of paper slipped under the door. Jamie froze, half standing, half sitting.

The paper was folded many times over, but it seemed to have a great yearning to unfold and breathe. After two seconds of complete and utter silence, Jamie dove for the paper like an opposing football player tackling the ball. She sat like a frog, near the door, and fumbled with the paper. It was a funny sight, for she was treating it like a hot potato; the paper was so small.

When Jamie finally caught the note in the middle of her palm, she was so captivated by the note (which she assumed was from that midnight chat person) that she failed to hear the lock rustle. Therefore, _KLUNK!_

"WHOA, DUDE, JAMIE!" Jake squeezed in, not able to open the door entirely because of the human door block. He stared at the collapsed girl who had just got hit in the head by an extremely heavy wooden door.

Jamie was limp. She groaned, and was silent again. Jake scratched his head, pulled back his hair, and bit his lip in confusion. Was she alright? Why in the world was she in front of the door anyway? He wondered if he should carry her to her bed. That is, if he _could_ carry her to her bed.

Jake slid his hands under Jamie's back and legs, and proceeded to lift her up. _Hey, she's not that heavy,_ Jake thought as he walked over to Jamie's bed with a limp girl in his arms.

When he set her down onto the bouncy bed, she mumbled and flipped over. "Ow," a muffled voice said. Jamie was face down, speaking into the pillow.

Jake ground his teeth together, lifted a brow, and sighed. As he backed up and purposely tripped himself and fell on the bed, he closed his eyes and asked the crazy, unanswered question running through his head at least a billion times.

"Why in the world were you sitting in front of the door, Jamie?"

"Mmm… note… that dude… I don't know…" Jamie began chewing her pillow, or so it appeared to her roommate. As if something shocked her, she bounced up, hyper as ever, and dove for the small note Jake had noticed was on the floor. He pondered the possibilities of who it was from and why it was so important to Jamie. As Jamie frantically opened the note, it hit Jake with a heavy baseball bat. That mysterious midnight weird crazy note man person dude!

Now aware of the urgency Jamie had showed, he belly-flopped onto the carpet and inched over to Jamie. Peeking over her shoulder, his eyes blazed a trail as he read the note.

_Where were you?_

_I thought we were going to meet up a few days ago._


	7. There's Something New

**A/N: **First of all, I'm TERRIBLY SORRY for the long wait!!! Please continue reviewing though! The past weeks / months' homework load is huge... I tried up keep writing, but it didn't really happen... I'm truly sorry.  
I'm also really sorry if those who are in college think this story is really unrealistic as for the college part. I'm not exactly sure how to write about the college part because I'm not in college… So I'm trying to avoid the school scenes. I hope the story is still alright even though it might not seem super ultra realistic. If you think the people should study more or spend more time doing homework, you can tell me that and I'll try to put it in. Thanks! Continue reading please!

* * *

Jamie's jaw dropped. Her eyes flicked around the room. _How could she forget? _Following suit, Jake's mouth dropped as well. Standing up slowly, he bit his lip. They had missed it. Or much less, she had missed it. It was practically their only chance to meet him. Unless… _naw_, no chance of them trying to meet again. School had started and they probably had to spend more time on homework and such. Plus, _he_ had probably already given up.

Jamie was still staring down at the floor and looking very calm – or perhaps nervous, or an indescribable feeling. She startled Jake by breaking the deathly silence.

"Did you see anybody in the hall when you came in?" Jamie sounded stern – incredibly serious, as if she was trying to worm secrets out of a stubborn person. With threats.

"No," Jake's voice was barely audible.

"The note slipped in seconds before you came."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You passed out, I think. Or fainted. Or something."

"I'm sure," Jamie's dangerous eyes turned towards Jake.

"Well, I didn't see anybody," Jake averted his eyes from Jamie, looking at the wall, ceiling, floor, anything that wasn't Jamie. It always scared him when she was like that.

Silence boiled like fire.

"HOW LONG was I out? How long has it been since you came in?" Jamie bursted out.

"I…I…I don't know I never looked. A few minutes, maybe? Over 10, under 10, I don't know." Jake absentmindedly took a few steps back, truly frightened of Jamie at this point – even if he wouldn't admit it or show any signs of it on his face.

"Let's go look in the bathroom or something. A person can't just disappear in two seconds." Jamie stood and swung the door open, about to step into the hall.

However, someone already occupied the doorway, posed with his right hand up; ready to knock on somebody's noggin. Cocking his head and squinting at Jamie, he opened his mouth to take a deep breath. _Huuuuuuuuh_ His expression changed in a snap, and after that, he finally spoke for the impatient Jamie in front of him.

"HEY MAN. ZACH-O here. Well, now. Aaron-asked-Dave-to-ask-Pete-to-ask-Josh-to-ask-Kevin if he wanted to go to dinner and… Kevin-said-he-didn't-know-so-he-asked-me-to-ask-YOU… if-you-wanted-to-go…eat ...dinner… now." Zachary from Room 5483 coughed out in one breath. "ACTUALLY, if you don't know either you can ask Jake. But then again… ACTUALLY, what really happened was that Aaron suggested to Kevin if he wanted to eat dinner now, but I wanted to have fun SO-"

"ZACH. STOP. What time is it?" Jamie steamed.

"Ooookay… well now, you're a bit… mad… now, aren't ya?" Zach raised both eyebrows.

"What time is it?" Jamie said in a whisper that seemed perilous.

"About 6," Zach whispered back, equally quiet. He had scrunched up his nose, and his voice was playful.

Jamie let out a long breath. They could never catch that note-communicating person now. She hoped he would come back.

The once angry female closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and said, "Yeah, let's go."

Zach glanced at Jake, looking for an answer in his eyes, but was answered only with a shrug. Zach decided to reply to himself,_ Jamie's mood swings a lot. No matter. I'VE got a rumbly in my tummy!_ Satisfied with his inference, Room 5483's occupant happily marched out of the room and after his Unit.

After a few seconds of deep thought, Jake cleared his head and jogged after them.

Dinner proceeded as usual. By the time Jamie returned to the comfort of her room, it was about 7:00 P.M. Homework time.

Taking her time in checking what her homework was and what she needed, Jamie packed up her tools. She headed downstairs into the lounge with two reasons. It would be quite peaceful there, she supposed. Any other time she passed the lounge nobody was there, so she could think about the day _and_ finish her homework quickly – No Jake to talk and disrupt her. It wasn't like he was annoying, just that she wanted to do her work in silence today.

The lounge had clear glass walls, and it was a separate room in the center of Floor Two. Inside of the lounge were blue couches, a coffee table, and a large TV. The flooring was purple.

Jamie entered by the side door, and sat down on the floor, her legs stretched out under the coffee table. She had a creepy feeling, like a few pairs of eyes were staring at her. Her heart began to beat faster. _I didn't think there was anyone here…_Jamie lifted her head and looked around the room counterclockwise. As she got to her left front view, she saw a familiar face.

"OH! Hey Aaron… um…" She was rather loud, to tell the truth.

"Hey, Jamie," Aaron replied with almost no expression.

"Um… hi…" the girl sitting on the other end of the cerulean couch managed to say, "I'm um… um…"

She took a glance at Aaron, and he nodded, as if he was ensuring her that Jamie was not a crook.

"I'm Irene," the girl smiled, looking more confident.

"Nice to meet you, Irene," Jamie replied cheerfully, walking over to shake her hand. "I'm Jamie."

"Hi."

Jamie sat back down awkwardly. The meeting was very strange. All Jamie had done was come into the lounge for some quiet time to think and work on her homework. Yet here she was, feeling beyond uncomfortable, averting Aaron and Irene's eyes.

She looked down at her homework for a few minutes. Irene and Aaron were whispering a little. Aaron was listing all the names of the people in their unit, probably telling her about who he was living with. Jamie hadn't written a word when she realized she was most likely disturbing them.

"I should go," she said quietly as she stood and straightened herself.

"Oh um… no it's fine. You don't have to go… if you don't want to… I mean… we're fine if you stay here," Aaron seemed a bit nervous.

"No, I'll go," Jamie replied, shaking her head. She gave Aaron a glance that said _I'll leave you two alone. Have fun! _With a genuine smile on, she walked out of the room. However, she was still aware of the eyes that were on her back.

A few seconds after Jamie had closed the door to the lounge, Aaron came stumbling out.

"Please don't tell anyone…" Aaron stuttered and paused, trying to find the right word to describe Irene in accordance to him.

"About your girlfriend?" Jamie supplied in a friendly way.

He scratched his head, slightly nodding.

"Don't worry. I won't."

Aaron's voice told her that he trusted her. "Thanks."

Jamie could sense a friendship forming. Without another word, she trotted upstairs. Aaron was very shy and liked to take it slow with others, Jamie could tell. Not much had happened, yet Jamie felt like she knew so much more about Aaron from this encounter.

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**A/N:** No cliff hanger this time... I figured I pretty much owed it to you. I'll update again as soon as I can! REVIEW!!! Also tell me if you think I should stick more funny scenes in the story. I'd like to, but I want to get your feedback first. I don't want to overdo the craziness of Zach. heh REVIEW NOW!! Thank you. 


	8. Another Day

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry I couldn't update in such a long time. (smacks self in head) But luckily this week we got this huge break on homework and I could write! YAY! I hope you like this chapter... I think it might be a bit weird and/or odd and/or seem to be skipping things. But I hope you still like it. For those of you that are here and was here before, thank you for not giving up on my snail's pace of writing. Really sorry again. I'll try to write faster. Maybe I can write more now that summer is drawing near.**

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_Darkness again._

_Same concert music._

_Same dream…_

_No…_

_That tapping. There was tapping. A stick hitting something metal, emitting some sort of a ringing sound. It was unidentified. Everything was still pitch black._

_---_

Jamie's eyes automatically opened. She was conscious, she was awake. Awake and alert. Glancing at her clock, she quickly calculated with her math-loving mind that it would be 14 minutes until her alarm clock should sound.

It was just one of those days that you woke up minutes before you were supposed to. On a normal day, you might think of those precious fractions of an hour that one could sleep and dream away the time. Resting those tired eyelids. Yet on _these_ particular days, all of a sudden you just feel completely alive, like you have slept for a few days straight.

The clock was checked for a second time. Nine minutes until Get-up-and-going time – precisely 7:51 AM now.

Deciding to get an early start, Jamie slid out of bed, and lazily stuck her feet into her blue slippers. Once her toothbrush and facecloth were grabbed, she quietly snuck out the heavy wooden door.

She crept into the bathroom, and did her daily morning routine, dressing and all that regular stuff. Jamie walked down alone to the nearest meal provider, ate a quick breakfast, and came back to the dorm.

A last minute trip to the restroom, a heedless farewell to Jake, and finally off to class.

As the girl exited the Low Rise Building 5, the world still seemed asleep. It was only the third day of school. Maybe they did have a reason not to be used to their new schedule.

With a quickly learning brain working, Jamie progressed through the first half of the school day without a problem.

For her own convenience, she ate lunch at the buffet closest to her next class.

"YO JAMIE!"

Instantly a name popped up in her mind. _Zach._ His voice was high for a boy, and had some certain playfulness to it, perhaps like a three year old child.

He could be heard, yet not seen.

"You can't seeeeee meee!!!" the singsong voice sang.

"Zach just get out here," Jamie tried to keep a straight face but couldn't. At least her voice sounded menacing.

"You're smiling," said a devious voice.

"Come on, my arms are tired. I've been holding this tray for forever!"

"BOO!" Zach jumped out from behind a column with a tray stacked with bowls of mashed potatoes, chicken, and about 4 soups. In the process, some soup from each bowl and a bit of gravy leaped onto his white shirt.

Jamie just couldn't do _anything_ but laugh! People stared, but she kept snickering. When she finally turned down the volume of her voice, Zach spoke again.

"Oy vey! WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!" He sounded half irritated, half joking. Poor Zach was kneeling on his knees now to show his somewhat obvious and fake depression.

Even when biting her lip, Jamie _still_ couldn't resist giving out the slightest giggle. She walked over to an empty table and motioned for multi-colored, drenched Zach to follow.

Jamie began eating her fried rice while Zach started chomping away at his chicken leg that was smeared with mashed potatoes.

"So what's up Jamie?"

"Nothin."

"NOTHING? Dude, the ceiling, man! The CEILING!!!"

"Mm." She simply smiled.

Thoughts scrambled in Jamie's head. _Did I finish my homework? Yeah I did. I should call mom. Nah, I'll do that later. Maybe I should actually listen to Zach._ Zach was still blabbing away. _Nah. Why do I feel so weird? Like I have something to do? Maybe it's not that. Gee, Jamie. Just decide what this crazy feeling is! Excitement? Not really. Anxiety? Not NERVOUS, no… Anticipation. It's anticipation. _

"Dude, Jamie…"

_Definitely anticipation. What's going to happen though?_

"Hellooooooooo?"

_Mm. I should just forget about it._

"Anybody home?" By now Zach was waving his hand, still holding bitten chicken, in front of his silent bud's face.

Jamie shook her head violently, breathed.

"Dude, man, Jamie, dude. You like, zoned out, man."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah," Jamie laughed it off.

Suddenly Zach was deadly serious. His face changed from a huge grin to a straight poker face.

"Jamie? You look disturbed."

"Do I? Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's just that I feel like something's going to happen but I don't know what. But otherwise, I'm completely fine." She slightly tilted the ends of her lips up.

Zach slammed his hands onto the table.

"OKAY! We're fine then. All's well that ends well!" His face broke into a beaming, happy ear-to-ear smile.

A few seconds passed with Zach the Statue Man staring into the eyes of Jamie. His hands were still spread on the table, his back straight, and his crazy grin still on.

Then he shattered, grabbed one wrist with the other hand, and shouted.

"OWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! ShOOT that HURT!" He tilted his head, winced, and made Jamie crack up.

"Dude… Zach…" Jamie breathed in between bursts of laughter, "your… face…" She tried to imitate him, but that was a hopeless attempt.

Zach Rowdy raised an eyebrow in amusement and continued on with his version of a normal conversation.

"ANYWAY, did you hear that joke about the three burglars and the dogs, cats, and potatoes?"

---

Back in the comfort of her dorm room, Jamie checked her cellphone. There were quite a few missed calls. All from her mom. _What could be so important? I'll call her back later._ _Now for homework._

It was around 4, and she had a bunch of homework to do.

At the sound of their weighty door slamming, Jamie lifted her head from her homework to see Jake waltz in through the door. He was holding something behind his back

"What makes you so happy?" the curious, hardworking girl asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Jake sneered mischieviously.

His best friend eyed him suspiciously.

"…just that _I_ got you the BEST present EV-ER!!!" he credited himself and held out a beautifully wrapped box with ribbons hanging over it. The blue wrapping paper was decorated with alternating snowmen and penguins.

Jamie was bewildered, but she took the present from his hands and found that it was rather heavy. With squinted eyes she looked up at Jake and questioned in a puzzled manner, "What…?"

Jake looked expectantly at her, and yelled, "It's your birthday, James, Jamie, Jamie Jame James!"

"It is?"

"YES! August 26th, man!" his smile was wider than his face.

Slowly Jamie's mouth spread across her cheeks. "It is," she whispered.

The blue package was dropped on the table, and Jamie jumped onto Jake, who was standing with open arms. Still being hugged and choked to death, Jake squeaked, "Happy Birthday, Jamie!"

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" the enlivened friend screamed into her best pal's ear.

Jake could only smile his heart out.

"Open it!" They sat down side by side on Jamie's bouncy blue bed. Jamie set the large gift on her lap, took a happy deep breath, and began untying the ribbon. She stripped the present down to the original cardboard box with much haste, but lifted the flaps at a snail's pace.

"Ho…. Jeez… DUDE!" Jamie was as joyous as could be, and her face showed it. _Maybe this was what she was expecting. But she still had that feeling even though this whole birthday thing was happening! Plus, she didn't even know it was her birthday, how could she know this was going to occur?_

Jake leaned over and gave his friend a squeeze. "I hope you like it."

"Dude, Jake, this is AWESOME! I mean… look at this!"

"Everyone contributed." Jake was in good spirits yet still very calm as he watched Jamie's hands dig through the items in the box.

"The whole gang?" Jamie asked, referring to their group of buddies from high school.

"Yeh."

"BOOKS! These are like… my favorite books! And… awwwww… how cute. A wittle stuffed welephant! So cute and soft. I love this!"

"We kind of all pooled in some money and bought your favorite things. Ooh, and some of us donated stuff that we already had, too."

"THANK YOU SO MUCH, JAKE!" She then tilted her head to the sky and thanked the rest of "the gang" as well.

"Open the middle thing!"

In the center of all the books and other favorites of Jamie's was a brown paper bag with some sort of object in it.

The eager birthday girl fumbled with the bag as her fingers took out the most special part of the whole shabam.

"Pictures," she whispered. Jamie flipped through each and every photo, occasionally laughing silently at funny pictures and sometimes smiling nostalgically from the memory of certain events.

"Everybody took some pictures from their collection and added it here. They wanted you to remember them."

Without a word, Jamie just wrapped her arms around Jake and somewhat strangled him in a nice way.

"Happy Birthday, Jamie."

---

_Bang, bang, bang._

"YO PEOPLES OPEN THE DOOR!"

Jake laughed a little and opened the door of 5484.

"Zach-man here. Everyone want's to go to dinner."

From down the hall, Pete shouted, "You want to go to dinner, J-J?"

Inside the room, Jamie smirked. "Is that nickname for both of us?"

"I dunno. Ask Pete." Zach shrugged the question away.

"It was a rhetorical question, Zach," Jamie replied, putting on her socks and shoes.

"I'm ready. Let's go, Jamie."

"HURRY UP I'M HUNGRY!!!" Zach screamed.

Everybody headed out the building, into the territory of fresh air. Once outside, Zach shrieked, "RACE!!!" and every soul that currently lived in unit 8 of Low Rise building 6 broke into a sprint.

Kevin and Josh were in the lead, head to head, when Zach, trailing along behind everyone, yelled, "RED LIGHT!"

Nobody stopped.

"RED LIGHT RED LIGHT RED LIGHT!!! Come on people you don't know the game?"

Some halted, and then the rest got the notion and froze.

"Don't move!" Zach ordered.

He strolled through all the statues and finally turned around to look at the other 5 when he got to the very front. Josh and Kevin, up front, glared at Zach. They were each standing on one leg, and were about to lose balance.

"Y-e-l-l-o-w light!"

Everyone started walking.

Zach ran ahead quite a few meters. Once he was very well ahead of the others, he yelled "Green light!" over his shoulder.

Soon everybody rushed past him again, but no complaints came from him again. He was just hungry… and too caught up in thinking about mashed potatoes to realize that he would be the last to get his food.

A few minutes after Zach, Pete, Dave, Aaron, Kevin, Josh, Jake, and Jamie had settled down at the round table with their food, someone's cell phone rang. Everyone started looking at each other to see whose cell phone it was except Zach. He just kept gorging down his mashed potatoes.

It turned out to be Jamie's phone. She picked it up and greeted who seemed to be her mom. Jamie motioned that she was going to leave the table and left to go talk in a private space.

Jamie's mom _had_ called, and it was a birthday call.

Right when they said goodbye to each other, Kevin appeared.

"Hey, Kevin. Want a drink?" That's what Jamie assumed he was there for, because she was standing next to the soda machine.

"No, thanks. I just have something to ask you." Kevin scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Sure! Shoot."

"Well um…" he twiddled his thumbs.

"Yez?"

"Do you eh.. um… Do you wanna go out with me?"

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**End Note: Heheh. No comment. Just review please.**


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